The movie making business, though often insanely-profitable, can be very hard to break into for upstart companies. However, Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE:LGF-Free Report) has managed to crack the code and successfully compete with the likes ofDisney, 21stCentury Foxand others, thanks to its strong lineup of popular movie franchises.

LGF is a Santa Monica, California-based company that is probably best known for the Hunger Games film series, though the company also has the distribution and production rights for the Twilight series and Divergent too. Thanks to these successes, LGF has been on an absolute tear over the past few years, as its stock has soared by over 440% in the past half-decade, including a 130% gain in the past two years.

However, recent trading has been much less favorable for LGF, as the stock is pretty much flat over the past 52 week period. Still LGF has put up a very strong performance in the trailing three months, and there is plenty of reason to believe that this can continue, especially if we look at recent earnings, and current estimates.

For the most recent earnings report, LGF thoroughly crushed estimates, posting EPS of 27 cents a share, compared to an estimate of 13 cents per share. This made up for the previous quarter's disappointing results, and helped to carry the four quarter average to a positive surprise of 81%.

The hits just keep coming for the discount retail industry, largely thanks to a number of weather issues. First, it was the 'polar vortex' in January and a number of bad storms across the Northern part of the country, and this was followed up by a summer polar vortex that has kept temperatures very mild and summer pretty much non-existent.

Discount retailers have struggled in this environment as those selling clothes have really missed out on some key shopping seasons, while changing consumer tastes haven't helped matters either. Instead, it appears as though only luxury companies have been able to weather the storm and keep their stock prices moving higher.

This trend away from discount retail has really been evident in the past few weeks of earnings season. We have seen several key department stores miss earnings, while the behemoth of Wal-Martjust slashed their guidance as well. Given this, a slightly higher end discount retailer Target (NYSE:TGT-Free Report), may be the next to succumb to the trend and could be a company to avoid ahead of its next quarterly earnings update.

Target has had a rough time beyond general weather issues as it is still reeling from its data breach last year that shook consumers' confidence in the company and their security systems. This really dragged down TGT shares, and the company is still trying to recover from that debacle.

Additional content:

Facebook to Introduce Cross-Device Tracking System

Facebook (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report) will now track shopping-related activities of its users in order to provide more relevant information to advertisers.

With the introduction of the cross-device tracking system on Facebook, advertisers will now get to know minute details such as when an ad for a particular product was first viewed by the user and whether it was finally purchased. Moreover, it will also enable advertisers to know about the devices from which the respective purchases were made.

However, this tracking will be enabled only on those devices that are logged on to Facebook. We believe that this initiative will beef up its ad revenues in the near future. Ad revenues contributed about 92.1% of total revenue in the just concluded second quarter of fiscal 2014.

However, this, in turn, has raised privacy concerns worldwide. This is not the first time though that the social media giant has been accused of breaching privacy. Recently, Facebook drew a lot of criticism when the results of an experiment conducted by it in 2012, to influence the moods of its users, were revealed in public.

It is also acquiring startups to target ads that will beef up ad revenues going forward. Recently, it acquired LiveRail, a startup that specializes in the delivery of online video ads to desired demographics.

Per EMarketer, the U.S. market for digital-advertising is set to grow 42% in 2014 to $5.96 billion. According to Gartner, ad market spending is expected to hit $42.0 billion in 2017.

As Facebook's ad business matures, top-line growth is expected to suffer. Facebook's rapid pace of acquisitions is also expected to weigh down on profitability and cash balance in the near term. Intensifying competition from the likes of Google (Nasdaq:GOOGL-Free Report) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR-Free Report) remains a major concern.

Nevertheless, we believe that Facebook's growing mobile user base, Instagram's increasing popularity, frequent launch of new products and international expansions will boost the company's top line and profitability going forward.

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An IoT product’s log files speak volumes about what’s happening with your products in the field, pinpointing current and potential issues, and enabling you to predict failures and save millions of dollars in inventory. But until recently, no one knew how to listen.
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Dan Gettens, Chief Research Officer at OnProcess, discussed recent research by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and OnProcess Technology, where MIT created a new, breakthrough analytics model for ...

IoT is rapidly changing the way enterprises are using data to improve business decision-making. In order to derive business value, organizations must unlock insights from the data gathered and then act on these. In their session at @ThingsExpo, Eric Hoffman, Vice President at EastBanc Technologies, and Peter Shashkin, Head of Development Department at EastBanc Technologies, discussed how one organization leveraged IoT, cloud technology and data analysis to improve customer experiences and effici...

Everyone knows that truly innovative companies learn as they go along, pushing boundaries in response to market changes and demands. What's more of a mystery is how to balance innovation on a fresh platform built from scratch with the legacy tech stack, product suite and customers that continue to serve as the business' foundation.
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The 20th International Cloud Expo has announced that its Call for Papers is open. Cloud Expo, to be held June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, brings together Cloud Computing, Big Data, Internet of Things, DevOps, Containers, Microservices and WebRTC to one location.
With cloud computing driving a higher percentage of enterprise IT budgets every year, it becomes increasingly important to plant your flag in this fast-expanding business opportunity. Submit your speaking proposal ...

In this strange new world where more and more power is drawn from business technology, companies are effectively straddling two paths on the road to innovation and transformation into digital enterprises. The first path is the heritage trail – with “legacy” technology forming the background. Here, extant technologies are transformed by core IT teams to provide more API-driven approaches. Legacy systems can restrict companies that are transitioning into digital enterprises. To truly become a lead...

The Internet of Things (IoT) promises to simplify and streamline our lives by automating routine tasks that distract us from our goals. This promise is based on the ubiquitous deployment of smart, connected devices that link everything from industrial control systems to automobiles to refrigerators. Unfortunately, comparatively few of the devices currently deployed have been developed with an eye toward security, and as the DDoS attacks of late October 2016 have demonstrated, this oversight can ...

You have great SaaS business app ideas. You want to turn your idea quickly into a functional and engaging proof of concept. You need to be able to modify it to meet customers' needs, and you need to deliver a complete and secure SaaS application. How could you achieve all the above and yet avoid unforeseen IT requirements that add unnecessary cost and complexity? You also want your app to be responsive in any device at any time.
In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Mark Allen, General Manager of...

As data explodes in quantity, importance and from new sources, the need for managing and protecting data residing across physical, virtual, and cloud environments grow with it. Managing data includes protecting it, indexing and classifying it for true, long-term management, compliance and E-Discovery. Commvault can ensure this with a single pane of glass solution – whether in a private cloud, a Service Provider delivered public cloud or a hybrid cloud environment – across the heterogeneous enter...

Bert Loomis was a visionary. This general session will highlight how Bert Loomis and people like him inspire us to build great things with small inventions. In their general session at 19th Cloud Expo, Harold Hannon, Architect at IBM Bluemix, and Michael O'Neill, Strategic Business Development at Nvidia, discussed the accelerating pace of AI development and how IBM Cloud and NVIDIA are partnering to bring AI capabilities to "every day," on-demand. They also reviewed two "free infrastructure" pr...

"Dice has been around for the last 20 years. We have been helping tech professionals find new jobs and career opportunities," explained Manish Dixit, VP of Product and Engineering at Dice, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 19th Cloud Expo, held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.

Extracting business value from Internet of Things (IoT) data doesn’t happen overnight. There are several requirements that must be satisfied, including IoT device enablement, data analysis, real-time detection of complex events and automated orchestration of actions. Unfortunately, too many companies fall short in achieving their business goals by implementing incomplete solutions or not focusing on tangible use cases.
In his general session at @ThingsExpo, Dave McCarthy, Director of Products...

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In this power panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, Dave McCarthy, Director of Products at Bsquare Corporation; Alan Williamson, Principal...

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Video experiences should be unique and exciting! But that doesn’t mean you need to patch all the pieces yourself.
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In his keynote at 18th Cloud Expo, Andrew Keys, Co-Founder of ConsenSys Enterprise, provided an overview of the evolution of the Internet and the Database and the future of their combination – the Blockchain.
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20th Cloud Expo, taking place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world.
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DevOps is being widely accepted (if not fully adopted) as essential in enterprise IT. But as Enterprise DevOps gains maturity, expands scope, and increases velocity, the need for data-driven decisions across teams becomes more acute. DevOps teams in any modern business must wrangle the ‘digital exhaust’ from the delivery toolchain, "pervasive" and "cognitive" computing, APIs and services, mobile devices and applications, the Internet of Things, and now even blockchain.
In this power panel at @...

The IoT continued its toddler-like growth and stumbles in 2016. Here are five trends to look for in 2017 as the IoT enters its adolescence and how to benefit from them.
1. Ecosystems begin to determine winners and losers
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise advanced across several fronts at HPE Discover 2016 in London, making inroads into hybrid IT, Internet of Things, and on to the latest advances in memory-based computer architecture.
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The time of year when crystal balls get a viewing and many pundits put out their annual predictions for the coming year. Rather than thinking up my own, I figured I’d regurgitate what many others are expecting to happen.
8 Predictions About How the Security Industry Will Fare in 2017 – An eWeek slideshow looking at areas like IoT, ransomware, automated attacks and the security skills shortage in the industry. Chris Preimesberger (@editingwhiz), who does a monthly #eweekchat on twitter, covers many of the worries facing organizations.

I recently recovered from ACDF surgery where they remove a herniated or degenerative disc in the neck and fuse the cervical bones above and below the disk. My body had a huge vulnerability where one good shove or fender bender could have ruptured my spinal cord. I had some items removed and added some hardware and now my risk of injury is greatly reduced.
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Andrew Keys is Co-Founder of ConsenSys Enterprise. He comes to ConsenSys Enterprise with capital markets, technology and entrepreneurial experience. Previously, he worked for UBS investment bank in equities analysis. Later, he was responsible for the creation and distribution of life settlement products to hedge funds and investment banks. After, he co-founded a revenue cycle management...

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My daughter called with a frantic message. She was driving my car (why she was driving my car when she has her own is the subject for another time) and a warning message appeared on the car console: “Engine overheated! Stop engine and allow to cool down” (see Figure 1).
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Predictions can be enlightening as we round out the end of the year, and industry analysts covering the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) have begun forecasting what to expect in 2017. In the ever changing digital business landscape, companies need to keep a pulse on the technology and regulatory environments to have direction on where to focus their efforts. Over the past few years, IIoT has taken on the shared title of industry 4.0, as new ways of connecting businesses and consumers impact systems infrastructures and technology integrations across many, if not all. business lines.

The holiday season is nearly upon us (I’ve already heard Christmas songs being played…really?) and retailers are usually the big winners during the holiday season. However, leading retailers are already thinking beyond the current holiday season, and not just from marketing and merchandising perspectives. These leading retailers are considering how this holiday season – and the resulting wealth of customer, product and operational data – can be converted into new analytic insights that can be used to optimize key business processes, uncover new monetization opportunities and create a more comp...

I was on a high-rise construction site 34-floors above the city. I was talking to the construction crew when a fight broke out. There was an explosion and the floor collapsed. I removed the virtual reality (VR) goggles and laughed. It was so real. The VR solutions provided an incredible experience, almost like being there. As good as my experience was, it was not reality. It was a controlled pre-programmed experience - a notional idea. Today, however, VR and sensor technologies enable a notional idea to become reality – a Real-Reality.

The cloud promises new levels of agility and cost-savings for Big Data, data warehousing and analytics. But it’s challenging to understand all the options – from IaaS and PaaS to newer services like HaaS (Hadoop as a Service) and BDaaS (Big Data as a Service). In her session at @BigDataExpo at @ThingsExpo, Hannah Smalltree, a director at Cazena, provided an educational overview of emerging “as-a-service” options for Big Data in the cloud. This is critical background for IT and data professionals, as experts estimate that “as-a-service” cloud sourcing will increase from today’s 15% to 35% by 20...

Internet of @ThingsExpo has announced today that Chris Matthieu has been named tech chair of Internet of @ThingsExpo 2017 New York
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Chris Matthieu is the co-founder and CTO of Octoblu, a revolutionary real-time IoT platform recently acquired by Citrix. Octoblu connects things, systems, people and clouds to a global mesh network allowing users to automate and control design flows, processes and sensor data, and analyze/react to real-time events and messages as well as big dat...

As we enter the final week before the 19th International Cloud Expo | @ThingsExpo in Santa Clara, CA, it's time for me to reflect on six big topics that will be important during the show. Hybrid Cloud: This general-purpose term seems to provide a comfort zone for many enterprise IT managers. It sounds reassuring to be able to work with one of the major public-cloud providers like AWS or Microsoft Azure while still maintaining an on-site presence.

2016 brought about more cyberattacks than we thought possible, especially involving ransomware, and we definitely won't see that trend breaking stride in 2017. By next year, we expect every single adult in the US will know a blood relative that has had their identity stolen - the Internal Revenue Service reported that 2.7 million people had their identities stolen in 2014 and according to TransUnion, 19 people fall victim to identity theft every minute.

For large enterprise organizations, it can be next-to-impossible to identify attacks and act to mitigate them in good time. That’s one of the reasons executives often discover security breaches when an external researcher — or worse, a journalist — gets in touch to ask why hundreds of millions of logins for their company’s services are freely available on hacker forums.
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Monitoring of Docker environments is challenging. Why? Because each container typically runs a single process, has its own environment, utilizes virtual networks, or has various methods of managing storage. Traditional monitoring solutions take metrics from each server and applications they run. These servers and applications running on them are typically very static, with very long uptimes. Docker deployments are different: a set of containers may run many applications, all sharing the resources of one or more underlying hosts. It's not uncommon for Docker servers to run thousands of short-te...

There’s a funny thing about digital transformation: we are simultaneously over-hyping it and understating it. On the one hand, every tech company in the world is talking about it. It doesn’t matter how mundane the technology; every company is somehow relating their products to digital transformation.
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Cloud computing budgets worldwide are reaching into the hundreds of billions of dollars, and no organization can survive long without some sort of cloud migration strategy. Each month brings new announcements, use cases, and success stories.